- Aug 10, 2010
- 106
Since it's winter I decided to rebuild the boom on our 1982 H36. I had recently purchased new sails and had the canvas maker install a double reef in the main. When I installed the second reef line I noticed that the 2nd reefing sheave in the outhaul cap of the boom was just about completely deteriorated. The first reef sheave wasn't in the best shape either, but since it had a line around it for most of it's 35 year life, it was somewhat protected from the sun. So I figured I would replace those sheaves. Come to find out the only way to do that was to remove the outhaul cap...but after 35 years of stainless steel bolts installed in an aluminum cap, I'm sure with no anti-sieze installed at the factory, they needed to be drilled out. Easier said than done. So off came the boom and the decision to rebuild and paint the whole shebang. Wish I took more "before" pictures, and I'm not done yet, so here is the beginning saga.
Step one was to grind down the bolts for both caps (three in the front and two at the aft end). That was the easy part. Drilling out the screws was rather difficult, best I could manage was to drill enough material away so that I could pry out the old bolts. Because I buggered up the holes real well, I needed to re-tap new, larger threads. I needed to go big on the front cap so I used 3/8-16 threads. Unfortunately I really buggered up the outhaul cap holes. I couldn't reuse it as-is so I looked into a replacement. Talk about a reality check.
I eventually discovered the original boom is made by Kenyon and the only supplier of OEM parts that I found is Rig-Rite. My year H36 used a Kenyon model 3756 spar with the "cut-away" for the outhaul section. The replacement outhaul cap is part K-43003, but it is no longer available. There is another outhaul cap (K-11472M) - but they quoted me $630! And while it came with new sheaves, I thought that was ridiculous.
They also quoted me $1699 for just the boom section. The front gooseneck was also not available, but I imagine that would have cost around $800 at least....so I looked into alternatives. I called US Spar and was quoted about $950 for a complete new boom with double reef capability and nothing else needed other than shipping. While significantly less than a new boom rig from Rig Rite, I decided to rebuild the old since it was really it useable condition, except for the outhaul cap. I took the outhaul cap to a local welding shop so they could weld on some new tabs so that I could re-tap them and use the existing mounting holes in the boom. I haven't picked it up yet, but was told they should be able to do it...so I was in business.
Step one was to grind down the bolts for both caps (three in the front and two at the aft end). That was the easy part. Drilling out the screws was rather difficult, best I could manage was to drill enough material away so that I could pry out the old bolts. Because I buggered up the holes real well, I needed to re-tap new, larger threads. I needed to go big on the front cap so I used 3/8-16 threads. Unfortunately I really buggered up the outhaul cap holes. I couldn't reuse it as-is so I looked into a replacement. Talk about a reality check.
I eventually discovered the original boom is made by Kenyon and the only supplier of OEM parts that I found is Rig-Rite. My year H36 used a Kenyon model 3756 spar with the "cut-away" for the outhaul section. The replacement outhaul cap is part K-43003, but it is no longer available. There is another outhaul cap (K-11472M) - but they quoted me $630! And while it came with new sheaves, I thought that was ridiculous.
They also quoted me $1699 for just the boom section. The front gooseneck was also not available, but I imagine that would have cost around $800 at least....so I looked into alternatives. I called US Spar and was quoted about $950 for a complete new boom with double reef capability and nothing else needed other than shipping. While significantly less than a new boom rig from Rig Rite, I decided to rebuild the old since it was really it useable condition, except for the outhaul cap. I took the outhaul cap to a local welding shop so they could weld on some new tabs so that I could re-tap them and use the existing mounting holes in the boom. I haven't picked it up yet, but was told they should be able to do it...so I was in business.